056 FOCUS
As early as 1550BC, nearly all civilisations had an almost inherent understanding of the value of daylight and sunlight as a requirement for our well-being and health, and nearly all were using some form of fire to illuminate spaces. But the development of electrical light has lessened our use of natural light and somehow diminished our appreciation of artificial light. Following the invention of the filament light bulb, together with the industrialisation that has led to a 24-hour society, our view of light has evolved from something aligned to our natural rhythms of sleep and wake, to something that directly conflicts with our natural rhythms. Light became widely available, cheap, and we started misusing it. As it went from the precious, personal and cherished to the ubiquitous, we began taking it for granted and undervaluing its role. Which is perverse because as human beings we have an inherent understanding that light is vital for our bodies and our well-being – we just kind of lost the message along the way. It is a message that is central to being a lighting designer, and yet ‘lighting design’ feels like the early stages of landscape architecture with most applications that are celebrated being those within high-end spaces and designed by a handful of small practices. Given the value that light can bring to our lives and
our well-being, it should be given more value, and we should see it being used properly in places that can really influence people’s lives. Te lighting of schools, healthcare environments and similarly functional spaces may not be as visually interesting as opera houses, retail outlets, restaurants and hotels, but they do offer the potential to enhance more lives in more meaningful ways. We need to celebrate the use of well-considered but more functional lighting in spaces that historically have not seen the skills and knowledge of a lighting designer.
Lighting, and how we use it, needs to change, and we need more advocates in the design and related spheres to
support a more thoughtful adoption of its use. We need to stop lighting being value-engineered to the bare bones or commoditised as just a product solution. And let us never speak again about ‘circadian lighting’ – all light impacts our physiology, be that positively or negatively. We need to design spaces that put people first and consider all people – not just the 95 per cent percentile around whom the lighting standards were developed. We also need to be thoughtful about reducing carbon impacts, the extraction of materials and rare earth minerals, and the improper use of light at night with impacts on biodiversity and animal health.
Most people in the design team will have opinions about light. Many reading this will specify light in their projects – some will think this starts with picking up their favourite decorative lighting catalogue, others will take a more thoughtful view on the general needs and wants of the space and the people using it. As a lighting designer I would like to see the greater involvement of my profession in both functional and high-end spaces. But the intention here is not to lock out those who are passionate about light, or to bash interior designers and architects who specify lighting. I think we can all play a vital role.
Te time has come for us to advocate better lighting in all projects and in all sectors. We need to make the case for lighting that not only excites, but that creates human- centric spaces and acknowledges our biological (and aesthetic) needs while recognising the urgent need to protect biodiversity.
It took landscape architecture a good 200 years to develop from informal but acknowledged profession to one that was recognised and widely appreciated. Like Capability Brown we need to get back to nature and consider light as the powerful and valuable resource it is. Jonathan Rush is director of lighting at Hoare Lea
Right Grainhouse, London, Mixed Use Development winner in the 2024 FX Awards: concealed warm lighting softens the industrial aesthetic of a 1915 seed merchant, now a contemporary ofice
Right Houlton School in the West Midlands is a winner of a Refurbishment/Revitalisation RICS award. The listed 1929 Rugby Radio Station transmitter was developed into a distinctive secondary school combining three state-of-the-art new blocks with a fabric upgrade and creative transformation of the historic pre-existing buildings
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